[Python-ideas] Should our default random number generator be secure?

Donald Stufft donald at stufft.io
Wed Sep 9 19:43:53 CEST 2015


On September 9, 2015 at 1:28:46 PM, Tim Peters (tim.peters at gmail.com) wrote:
> > I read Guido's message as specifically asking about Theo's 
> "strongly
> worded recommendation of [Python switching to] the OpenBSD 
> version of
> arc4random()" as its default generator. In which, case, yes, 
> when that
> specific implementation falls out of favor, Python would need 
> to
> change.

arc4random changes as the underlying implementation changes too, the name is a
historical accident really. arc4random no longer uses arc4 it uses chacha, and
when/if chacha needs to be replaced, arc4random will still be the name.

-----------------
Donald Stufft
PGP: 0x6E3CBCE93372DCFA // 7C6B 7C5D 5E2B 6356 A926 F04F 6E3C BCE9 3372 DCFA




More information about the Python-ideas mailing list